The Nordhoff High girls volleyball team hadn’t even dropped a mere game in six weeks.

And yet, the smiles persisted Saturday night, even after tasting defeat in a CIF-Southern Section final.

That’s because, having reached the program’s first section final in 25 years starting five sophomores and a freshman, the baby-faced Rangers know this is just the beginning.

“Of course, I’m upset that we didn’t win,” sophomore middle blocker Lauren Dingman said. “But I don’t feel that upset, because I know there’s going to be more opportunities.

“I know we’re only going to get stronger as a team because we’re going to stay together over the next two years. I see winning in our future. … It’s going to be amazing.”

Sophomore outside hitter Devin Clawson had 11 kills, sophomore middle blocker Kolbe Fink and sophomore opposite Sasha Frazier each had nine kills and Dingman had five blocks as the third-seeded Nordhoff High girls volleyball team fell to top-seeded Temecula-Linfield Christian in four sets on Saturday in the CIF-SS Division 7 final.

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“I feel like we’re going to have a good future,” Frazier said. “That definitely made us less worried about this game.

“It’s still a great season and we’re going to state, so I’m excited.”

Linfield Christian (29-4) was led by setter Devin Sivertson and the middle blocking duo of 6-foot-1 Paige Williams and 5-11 Alaina Tucker.

“They’re a very good team,” Nordhoff coach Rene Nakao-Mauch said. “They have a phenomenal setter who could feed their hitters the ball from anywhere and she was very consistent. You put that together and it’s very hard to beat.”

Nordhoff (25-3) had been very hard to beat itself since dropping two of its first three matches. It hadn’t lost since being swept by Oxnard on Aug. 30.

“It was a remarkable feeling,” Dingman said. “You’d never think you’d have so much luck in a season with a whole group of underclassmen. It felt really good and I think it made us play better because we were confident in our ability.”

One year after finishing fourth in the Tri-Valley League and sneaking into the postseason, Nordhoff blew through the Citrus Coast League and the first four rounds of the playoffs without dropping a game.

Facing the division’s top seed, the Rangers didn’t give up their six-week-old 40-set winning streak without a fight.

“We were up for the challenge tonight,” Nakao-Mauch said. “Bummer we didn’t get that first set, that epic battle. But I can’t complain. They played as hard as they could.”

The match pivoted on an epic first set, which saw Linfield Christian build leads of 18-10 and 24-20.

But Nordhoff clawed back seven straight set points, including four straight to pull even 24-24.